Latasha Harlins' Two Dollar Bill
'Origin' Latasha Harlins (July 14, 1975 – March 16, 1991) was a 15-year-old African-American girl who was unlawfully shot and killed by Soon Ja Du (Hangul: 두순자), a 51-year-old Korean store owner. Harlins was a student at Westchester High School in Los Angeles. Because Harlins' death came thirteen days after the videotaped beating of Rodney King and Du was fined, and sentenced to probation and community service but no prison time for her crime, some sources cited the shooting as one of the causes of the 1992 Los Angeles riots. Incident The following paragraphs summarize the transcript of the court case, People v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County. The South Los Angeles store, Empire Liquor, was normally staffed by Du's husband and son. However, on the morning of the shooting, Du was working behind the counter, and her husband was outside resting in the family's van. Du observed Harlins putting a bottle of orange juice in her backpack. Police say that Du erroneously concluded Harlins was attempting to steal, and evidently did not see the money Harlins held in her hand. The police reached this conclusion after speaking with the two eyewitnesses present and viewing the videotape of the incident, recorded by a store security camera. Du grabbed Harlins by the sweater and snatched her backpack. Harlins then struck Du with her fist three times, knocking Du to the ground. After Harlins backed away, Du then threw a stool at her. Harlins then picked up the orange juice that dropped during the scuffle, threw it on the counter and turned to leave. Du reached under the counter to retrieve a handgun, then fired at Harlins from behind at a distance of about three feet (one meter) and shot her in the back of her head, killing her instantly. Du's husband, Billy Heung Ki Du, heard the shot and rushed into the store. After speaking to his wife, who asked for whereabouts of Harlins before fainting, he dialed 9-1-1 to report an alleged holdup. Harlins died with $2 in her left hand. (Just to note, while it does say that she died with $2 in her hand, it could be she had two $1 bills, but I made it a $2 bill to make it easier) 'Today' This artifact was grabbed after the L.A. riots had calmed down. The agent was sent to check on what had happened with the cases that were probably involved with the creation of the riots, Latasha's case being one of them. They went through the evidence, imposing as one of the police officers who were in charge of the evidence locker, and when they found out the bill was an artifact, they swapped it with another one. Storage and Handling Stored on a podium in the Dark Vault in an airtight plastic container. Neutralizer gloves are mandatory. This artifact must be handled only when there are no other people around the holder to prevent accidental activation. Category:Artifact Category:Mr. Stall Category:Class P Category:The Dark Vault